About | Emawayish

The Visionaries

Dr. Bernard Anderson

In the early 1970s, after graduating from medical school in Washington DC as a certified surgeon, Dr. Anderson served as surgeon and instructor at Kingston Public Hospital, an institution that provided free medical care to the underserved community in Jamaica. After several years he returned to the United States to serve at the former D.C. General Hospital, at which his considerable surgical and leadership skills lead him to the position of Chairman and Director of Surgery. Under his leadership, the hospital regained its status to become one of the top trauma centers in the city.

Dr. Anderson’s passion to ease the pains of the ailing led him to Ethiopia, thanks to a shared vision he had with his wife, Emawayish Gerima. During a visit to a rural area, he was heartbroken to see people deprived of basic medical care, often walking and waiting for days to receive even the most rudimentary care. As a result, the half-a-century old Gondar hospital and medical college became his institution of choice for his tireless service, to serve the poor and the needy in the city of Gondar and its vicinity.

Consequently, he allocated a considerable amount of money towards the foundation of the ‘Emawayish Bernard Hospital,’ to alleviate the chronic shortage of medical establishments in the area.

Dr. Anderson, a “renaissance man,” held patents to two inventions: internal by-pass shunt apparatus for the inferior vena cava (Patent number: 6325776) and method of using a dedicated internal shunt and stent for the inferior vena cava (Patent number: 6148825). An accomplished architect, he envisioned and designed the blueprints for the ‘Emawayish Bernard Hospital. He was a published author of Limbic glimpses, a collection of poems that was illustrated by his mother. He was also an exceptionally talented craftsman who built boats.

Emawayish Gerima

Emawayish Gerima, born in Gondar Ethiopia, was a registered nurse who served for many years as a lead nurse in the operating rooms of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Washington D.C. She was the first chairman of Ethiopian Nurses Association. Her father was a historian and a teacher at the Ministry of Education. He was also a playwright who presented original and historical drama, submerged in the genuine culture of Ethiopia.

Mrs. Gerima was a force in her own right. Following in her father’s footsteps, she had fought to preserve the history of Ethiopia by founding a publishing company that launched magazines on facts and current affairs, particularly focused on the next generation of Ethiopians. She was an activist fighting for human right in Ethiopia. Mrs. Gerima’s love for her country was unparalleled that she risked her life and left her much-accomplished life in the US and moved back to Gonder, Ethiopia, with her late husband Dr. Bernard Anderson to serve the underprivileged in Ethiopia.

Her many years of experience as a nurse and community activist were often directed towards developing, implementing practical solutions and bringing social changes. Emawayish Gerima was the inspiration behind the hospital currently under construction in Gonder, Ethiopia. Driven by the desire to improve the health of Ethiopians, she worked together with her husband tirelessly in the area of hepatobiliary diseases. Dr. Anderson served as a clinician and professor of surgery at the University of Gondar. After the untimely death of Dr. Anderson, despite many obstacles, Mrs. Gerima continued to work towards the completion of the hospital. Mrs. Gerima had a life-threatening disease and when she knew that she didn’t have long to live, she brought friends and family on board to bring the project to fruition. She worked on the project relentlessly till the time of her death.

Emawayish Gerima is a true hero, a woman who sacrificed most of her life for the betterment, justice, and equality of all Ethiopians.

The couple’s vision

The couple’s vision was to build a 70-bed hospital in Ethiopia, a center of excellence in treating hepatobiliary diseases, and to advance research and public knowledge of hepatobiliary diseases.